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While walking her poodle, Olivia Limoges discovers a dead body buried in the sand. Could it be connected to the bizarre burglaries plaguing Oyster Bay, North Carolina? At every crime scene, the thieves set up odd tableaus: a stick of butter with a knife through it, dolls with silver spoons in their mouths, a deck of cards with a missing queen. O... more »livia realizes each setup represents a cliché. And who better to decode the cliché clues than her Bayside Book Writers group?« less

Top Member Book Reviews

I couldn't put the book down. Read it in one day and now can't wait until the next one is out. I love the central characters and the story lines Ms Adams writes about. I'm new to the "cosie" grenere and I can get my fix of mysteries without all the blood and gore. I also like Captain Haviland, the dog that is featured in this series. I love dogs and miss mine so I live vicariously thru this animal. It's a wonderful book. I hope Ms Adams writes many more for "A books by the Bay" series.

I thought this second-in-series was better than the first, in that the characters are growing nicely. I like that Ellery Adams seems at least as interested (if not more so) in bringing life to her characters, as she is to solving the mystery. If there was one weak spot in this engaging tale, it was the premise of the cliches ... I think it was a great idea, but I'm not sure it was developed quite as much as it needed to be ... All in all, I'm more interested to continue reading the series to know the characters than to solve the mysteries ...

I enjoyed this second book in the series. I found Olivia to be rather cold in the first book and like that she is becoming a more likeable character. I enjoy the mixture of small town residents and their interaction with each other. 3 stars

I have so many good things to say about this series that I'm not sure where to start! I strongly suggest you start with the 1st book & read them in order to get the most from this series. The characters are very believable...including Olivia's dog, Captian Haviland. The mysteries are great & I love the sidebar romance angles too...it gives the characters more depth. What sets this series apart from others I've read is The Bayside Book Writers group aspect. At each meeting, they critique a chapter from one of the members' books. What I love about this series is that you, too, get to read some of the chapter that they'll be critiquing at their next meeting. One member is writing a romance novel whereas another is writing a science fiction novel...and so on. It's almost like reading several books at the same time!!! I'm almost done reading the third book in this series & I'm already counting the days until the 4th book is released!!